Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep Pre-dating paprika: Reconstructing childhood and adulthood diet at medieval (13th century CE) Solt-Tételhegy, Hungary from stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses Ariana Gugora a, ⁎ , Tosha L. Dupras b , Erzsébet Fóthi c a Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Orlando, FL 32816-1361, United States b Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Howard Phillips Hall Rm 309, Orlando, FL 32816-1361, United States c Department of Anthropology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Ludovika tér 2, Budapest 1083, Hungary ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Central Europe Bone Enamel Dentin Collagen Apatite Bioarchaeology ABSTRACT Between 2005 and 2009, 125 skeletons were excavated from the medieval (13th century CE) Hungarian ar- chaeological site of Solt-Tételhegy. While previous stable isotopic research has examined the diet of medieval European peoples, here we present the first such research conducted on a medieval Hungarian population. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on dental enamel and dentin from first and second molars from 24 individuals to reconstruct their childhood diet, as well as from the rib bones of 21 of the same in- dividuals to reconstruct their adulthood diet. The average enamel δ 13 C values is -11.1‰, and the average for dentin δ 13 C values is 17.4‰. The bone apatite δ 13 C values have a mean of -10‰, while the bone collagen δ 13 C values have a mean of -17.1‰. These data suggest that C 3 plants were the dominant plant type consumed by the majority of the study population, although varying quantities of C 4 plants were also eaten, supporting other archaeological evidence that C 3 plants were consumed more often than C 4 plants in medieval Europe. The dentin δ 15 N values average at 10.6‰, and the bone δ 15 N values average at 9.8‰, showing that animal protein con- stituted a moderate proportion of the diet. Despite signs of status differences indicated by burial location, stable nitrogen isotope values also suggest that the individuals had relatively egalitarian access to animal protein. 1. Introduction Stable isotope analysis is used by bioarchaeologists to understand the diet, nutritional health, weaning history, and migration patterns of prehistoric and historic peoples (Harrison and Katzenberg, 2003). Al- though there exists a wealth of publications on the diet of medieval Europeans (Bayliss et al., 2004; Burt, 2013; Hakenbeck et al., 2010; Kjellström et al., 2009; Lightfoot et al., 2012; Linderholm and Kjellström, 2011; Mays, 1997; Müldner and Richards, 2005, 2007; Polet and Katzenberg, 2003; Reitsema et al., 2010; Reitsema and Vercellotti, 2012; Richards et al., 2002, 2006; Salamon et al., 2008; Schutkowski et al., 1999; Yoder, 2010, 2012), there is currently no stable isotopic research on the diet of medieval people from Hungary. As a result, the purpose of this pilot study is to ascertain the childhood and adulthood diet of 24 individuals from medieval Solt-Tételhegy in southern Hun- gary, using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of enamel apatite, dentin collagen, bone apatite, and bone collagen. This research will examine if sex and status influenced the diet of these people, as four of the individuals from the sample are believed to have occupied a higher rung in society because of their burial location (Fóthi and Bernert, 2014). Due to the dearth of Central European stable isotopic studies, the results from Solt-Tételhegy fill a gap in the current research and could serve as a springboard for further such research in Hungary and its neighboring countries. Dietary information from these areas will enrich the current understanding of how different peoples lived in Europe, while also providing a comparison based on culture- and/or location-specific variables. As with most of medieval Central Europe, Hungary primarily cul- tivated C 3 cereal crops. Wheat (T. aestivum) was planted on central lands, while barley (H. vulgare), rye (S. cereale), oats (A. sativa), and common millet (P. miliaceum) (a C 4 plant native to Europe) grew on the periphery lands (Adamson, 2004; Berend et al., 2013). Because of Solt- Tételhegy's location on the Great Southern Plains, wheat (T. aestivum) would have been the most common grain grown in the region. Other food plants grown were apples (M. pumila), sweet cherries (P. avium), sour cherries (P. cerasus), peaches (P. persica), watermelon (C. lanatus), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.12.036 Received 18 June 2017; Received in revised form 3 December 2017; Accepted 22 December 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research, Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budaörsi út 45, Budapest 1112, Hungary. E-mail addresses: agugora@knights.ucf.edu (A. Gugora), Tosha.Dupras@ucf.edu (T.L. Dupras), fothi@nhmus.hu (E. Fóthi). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 18 (2018) 151–160 2352-409X/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T